Chapter 107 Make It up to Him
"Teresa, are you okay?" Diana immediately grabbed a clean napkin to dab at the wine stains on Teresa’s dress as soon as Dakota left the scene. The waitstaff hurried over to check on her as well.
After all, even if they didn’t recognize Teresa at first, they overheard Hayden's introduction; she was the owner of their workplace, and they couldn’t fail to attend to her with the utmost care.
"I’m fine." Teresa shook her head, then smiled at Hayden, "Hayden, thanks for standing out for me."
"Don’t mention it!" Hayden chided her, taking a sip of water, "You have no idea. Dakota bought other people's works and then slapped her name on them to make a splash. Who knows if the piece that won her the award today was also someone else’s brainchild that she simply purchased.”?
"Really? No way!" Diana's eyes widened in shock.
Teresa, equally surprised and curious, looked at Hayden, eager for her to continue.
That's old news, Hayden said, nodding. In essence, Dakota's reputation as a bridal gown designer was only a product of the Clinton family's enormous financial resources."
"Money does talk!" Diana murmured, sipping her juice.
Teresa smiled. Noticing the red wine stains on her dress, she handed her card to the waitstaff, asking them to pop over to the flagship women’s fashion store across from the club and buy her a change of clothes.
The three of them continued to spend their time together, seemingly unaffected by Dakota’s earlier disruption.
Soon, the waitstaff returned with a new outfit for Teresa. She headed to the restroom to change, and Hayden, excusing herself to use the facilities too, followed along.
In the restroom, as Teresa stepped out of the stall in her fresh clothes, Hayden casually asked while washing her hands, "So, Teresa, I heard your brother’s got a girlfriend. Is it true?"
"My brother has a girlfriend? That’s news to me," Teresa responded with surprise.
Hayden chuckled, turning to look at her, "So, you haven’t met her?"
Teresa shook her head, "I haven’t even heard about her, let alone met her."
Seeing Teresa’s reaction, Hayden felt a wave of relief but kept her expression neutral as she probed further, "I wonder, don’t your parents ever press your brother about settling down?"
"Oh no, my folks are pretty cool; my brother can feel free to manage his own business," Teresa said, glancing at Hayden, and then, as if a light went off, she cracked a bright smile and smoothly flipped the subject, "Hayden, what do you think about my brother?”
Hayden looked back at her with a chuckle and playfully tapped her forehead, "You little rascal, what are you getting at?"
Hayden was four years Teresa's senior and always had that big sister vibe around her.
"I was thinking," Teresa said with a radiant and vibrant laugh, "you and my brother would make a perfect match! Haha..."
Even though Diana had joked about becoming her sister-in-law, Teresa knew it was nothing serious, just a joke. She had been friends with Diana for three years in Jena, and Diana never brought up Teresa's elder brother unless Teresa did it first.
So, it wasn’t Diana who had expectations regarding her brother; it was Hayden. Ever since Mrs. Harriman's birthday bash, Teresa had sensed Hayden's interest in her brother. Amidst the flock of guests, Hayden had declined a ride from the Harrimans and insisted on sharing a car with them.
And now, here was Hayden, inquiring about her brother's love life. It couldn’t be more obvious that she was interested.
"You really believe that?" Hayden asked seriously, looking at Teresa.
Nodding, Teresa lifted her brows playfully and said, "Sure do. So, should I set something up for you two? Like a dinner date?"
Hayden gave her a sideways look, "You're overthinking this. Come on, let's head out."
With that, Hayden pulled Teresa to their feet and they walked out together.
Returning to their original spot, they found Croissant tuckered out in Victoria's arms, nearly asleep. They chatted and laughed for a while longer, and when Croissant finally dozed off completely, they decided to call it a night.
Teresa cradled Croissant into the car, and when the driver asked where to, she simply said, "The Garcia family."
Losing her cool at Gabriel because of a woman like Dakota, Teresa felt it was unwarranted. Now, by taking Croissant back to the Garcias on her own initiative, she hoped to make it up to him.
However, Gabriel wasn't at the Garcia’s house but at work at Capital Construction instead.
After he left the library, he headed straight to the office. These days his life revolved around two things: spending time with his beloved family and working. Since his kid didn't need his company at the moment, he threw himself into his work, determined to earn more for his family.
Having arrived at Capital Construction, he conducted a meeting. When it wrapped up two hours later, his secretary had already arranged for lunch to be delivered to his office.
"Boss, I’ve looked into the incident at the school yesterday. Your wife was hit by one of her female students. The girl had become resentful because her boyfriend, who is in the same class, often joked with Mrs. Garcia during lessons. He had also recently started to cold-shoulder her, even talking about a breakup. Upset, jealous, and bearing a grudge, the girl first pelted Mrs. Garcia with eggs during class and later hit her with a motorbike," Finley reported respectfully as Gabriel sat down for lunch.
Gabriel paused, setting down his fork, and lifted his gaze to Finley, “Was the girl put up to it by someone?" he asked with a furrowed brow.
"No, sir," Finley shook his head, “She acted on her own."
"And how did the school handle this assault on a teacher?" Gabriel pressed on.
"Expulsion."
Gabriel nodded in approval, “Make sure she doesn't cross paths with Teresa again."
"Will do, sir," Finley acknowledged, hesitating before adding, "There's another matter concerning Mrs. Garcia."
"Speak," Gabriel commanded in a stern voice, abandoning his attempt to pick up the fork again.
Frowning slightly, Finley reported, "During lunch with Hayden and Diana, Mrs. Garcia was confronted by Dakota. Dakota threw a glass of red wine at your wife in public and started an argument. She even tried to hit her, but she didn't succeed."
"And then what?" Gabriel demanded, his expression darkening rapidly.
Finley looked down, “After that, Mrs. Garcia retaliated by splashing Dakota with a glass of juice. Plus, Hayden was there to back her up, so she wasn't at a disadvantage."
"What about Michael?" Gabriel added another question.
"The young master wasn't by Mrs. Garcia's side at the time, so he's fine," Finley responded.
